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I think that's a feature, not a fault. Do you want anyone to be able to open your trunk when the car is locked?

I'm wondering why the previous owner stopped there with the stuff. I mean there's plenty more rust they could have had a go at. https://neutrarust.co.uk/ The underside of that Yeti makes me think of a woman who's gone out having only crayoned on a pair of those daft big black eyebrows, and done nowt else to glam herself up.

Have you contacted the Insurance Ombudsman? https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/complaints-can-help/insurance/motor-insurance/vehicle-valuations-write-offs

I'm planning on getting mine done at 8 years, but I have a 2019 car with 15K miles. I'd love to offer some sage advice based on personal experience or expertise, but all I've got is the servicing schedule, which says 8 years or 80K miles. If you've really got an itch to get it serviced, how about getting the DSG fluid done now, and the fluid and filter done at 80K/8years, whichever is sooner?

Hello and welcome! Slightly random question, do you know the engine code for the engine you have in your vRS? Might be worth adding it to your profile info. 👍

I bought my GPF-equipped EA888 in July 2020 and have only put about 8K miles on it in the last three years. I have not had even a hint of a GPF problem, but I do take it for a run down one junction of the M42 at least once a week. I haven't heard of any GPF-related issues, other than it's thought they take the edge off performance a bit. If you have particulate filter worries, petrol is definitely the way to go IMO.

Make sure you seal the paintwork if the gouge has cut through the paint, to avoid any rust developing. 👍 My old Mondeo had a big dent in the sill from its previous owner, and it never gave me a moment's bother in the near decade I owned it. That said, when buying the car, I noticed the dent, but thought nothing of it. Turned out the car had had (well repaired) accident damage on the door above the damaged sill. After a few years, the door started rusting. It's too late for you on this vehicle, but if you see inconsequential damage when inspecting a car, it's worth paying close attention to the surrounding area to see whether their was more substantial damage that was repaired, and you're just seeing the minor damage they didn't fancy repairing before they flogged the car. It still might be worth a look to see if your car's had paint on the two doors above that. The sill damage looks like a gouge from a rock on a verge or similar, but there are also some dents on the front of the rear wheel arch. Might be worth getting a bodywork expert to take a look at it to see if there was more substantial damage and check it's been repaired correctly.

More, but not necessarily considerably more. Hmmm. Horsepower and MPG are not causatively correlated. You can have very inefficient feeble engines, and very efficient powerful engines. My 2.0L TSI is pretty much the same economy as our old 1.2 Fabia, despite having around 3 times the power. (After the remap). All true! That about sums it up. There's also a risk of buying a 1.5TSI kangaroo, if you're unlucky. Though that may have been sorted out now. https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/new-cars/2020-03/volkswagen-announces-fix-for-15-tsi-engine-hesitation-issues/

I was thinking about this yesterday morning as I drove to work. I knocked the gearbox over into manual and dropped a gear as I approached the hill, then knocked it back into auto as I crested the top. It worked a treat and just required a little though prior to the hill. If I do it a few more times, it will become natural and I'll do it without thinking about it, like popping the gearbox into neutral as I come to a stop.

Yeah. I have a niggle of a memory about something to do with G12evo being "environmentally friendly" and "organic", but it's one of those "I think I read something somewhere..." memories that are unreliable. According to the graphic, it's got better corrosion inhibition, so that will do for me.

Mine was in pristine condition when I removed it and it still is, but now it's safely in a plastic bag in the boot, where it can't do any harm.

No, it's just helpful for other car owners to see what they're dealing with. 👍

If it's had Skoda servicing, a VAG specialist (and Skoda dealers, of course) should be able to check its online service history for you.

I'm a big fan of plug and play upgrades, but...there is almost always a trade-off. Sometimes it's a minor trade off, like an increase in price. However sometimes it's a very undesirable unforeseen trade-off. If you plan to change to a different turbo, be sure to research it carefully and talk to experts with a proven track record of expertise on the issue. Also, bear in mind that a experts can have the unfortunate habit of answering questions you ask, and failing to prompt you to consider information/issues you really need to understand before making a decision and finding yourself with one of those pesky undesirable unforeseen trade-offs. They don't do this maliciously, they're running a business and are trying to help you, but they're not going to do all your thinking for you for free.

It's a TSI.

I am (pretty idly, TBH) toying with the idea of retro-fitting paddles to my car, but am getting by with knocking it into sport mode for overtaking. Sport mode has the advantage of changing the throttle response as well as the willingness to drop a gear and hold it, so I might actually find that paddles would give me less effective overtaking experience than the one-stop solution of nudging the car in to and out of sport mode.

Probably worth correcting the title to change "acceleration" to "increased engine RPM". That said, no idea what that noise is. Bizarre!

That's a lot of cash, but (and I hope this isn't impertinent) what was the cash settlement from the insurance and the buy-back cost of your car, @Graham Butcher? What I'm asking, is what would be the actual cost to you to repair, taking into account the money back from the insurance company minus the cost to buy back your car? Presumably, that cost could be something your legal cover could chase up from the third party at fault?

I left the Skoda network as soon as my warranty expired because my nearest Skoda dealer has terrible access and my preferred alternative is miles away. I use a specialist VAG servicing garage and they are able to access the Skoda online service database and update my service history. They're not cheap, but they seem to do a reasonable job. Edit: Just nipped out and checked the independent VAG specialist I used to service my car on Friday had reset my service interval indicator correctly, and they had. That is better than the Skoda dealer managed first time when I took my car to be serviced there while it was under warranty. They sorted it out there and then when it was pointed out, but it's a rookie mistake that a main dealer shouldn't be making.

Hard to believe you missed an opportunity to post your excellent servicing schedule graphic, @toot. 😊 I have (perhaps unsurprisingly) got a spreadsheet for my car's servicing. (Servicing already done not visible, just upcoming work.)

Test drive both to make sure what your preference is. The 272/280 Superbs are real gentlemen's rockets, but their day-to-day MPG can be challenging, if fuel economy is any concern to you. The vRS 245 Octavia is much more "sporty" and the handling and ride reflect this. They're cars with very different characteristics, so it's worth trying both. That Superb with the dodgy MOT history is definitely one to avoid. It sounds like it's a right lemon.

That's exactly what I did, when I rerouted my wires from over the top where they had bothered me with the risk of them interfering with the curtain airbags.

My MPG isn't far off what I was getting with my 2.2 TDCI Mondeo. About 44.5, long term. On a run, it's normal for me to get over 50mpg, even after the remap to ~230ps.

I had a real bee in my bonnet about the DSG and was convinced that getting one would be a bad idea, but my tuner convinced me that the DSG was actually a more robust option if I intended to remap the TDI. Eventually when I drove the DSG, I found a lot of the negative characteristics about the DSG (problems reversing uphill being one I tested for) simply didn't manifest themselves when I drove the car. I found the kickdown a bit slow, and actually rejected a car because it kickeddown a bit slower than I'd have liked, but on reflection, I could have downshifted easily with the paddles. But as it was my first test drive of the DSG, I was unfamiliar with the controls. Now I've got a petrol car without DSG but paddles, which is a shame as they'd be quite handy, but I've got used to it.

Hello! 😊 Watch out for the side curtain airbags when you're routing the wire to your rear camera.